The present invention relates to separation of sheet material, and in particular to a method and apparatus for automatically separating folded two-on type corrugated cartons.
As is known, a two-on corrugated carton comprises two cartons which are manufactured as a unitary structure but are adapted to be detached one from the other into two separate cartons. In its manufacture, a two-on carton is initially die stamped from a sheet of corrugated material, and then glued and folded to a flat configuration. At this point, the two cartons of the two-on carton are releasably connected by small bridges of material extending between adjacent edges thereof, and if the two-on carton is gripped along its opposite edges and pulled apart, the bridges will tear and the two cartons will be separated one from the other. Conventionally, two-on cartons are manually separated, which is time consuming where large numbers of cartons are involved and can require considerable strength and be unwieldy with relatively large cartons.